Blogs:

Schools in Afghanistan are supported by our country because we realize that a country can be built only through this effective and cheap method. Okay, so, a lesson well learnt….but haven’t we forgotten this lesson at home?

Just look at our schools struggling with budget cuts. Important education programs are dismantled and teachers are laid off. Schools that were doing well years back have now cut school days to around 165 due to reduction in staff by nine percent over the past five years.

There are schools where junior varsity as well as fresh team sports teams are vulnerable. Students will be asked to pay for being a part of the school team. Many schools have even terminated their school newspapers.

No more business classes and no more music teachers stringing the cords, encouraging students to sing. Size of classes is constantly growing. In rural areas that are predominantly dependent on forestry and farming, schools have always offered an opportunity to escalate their chances.

Even students from a low income background were then able to become lawyers and accountants. Education has played a significant role. According to Yamhill Carlton School superintendent Steve Chiovaro, we have always talked about what we can reduce year after year. This has reached a level where we cannot but harm our education system.

Public university system in California has always been the best. This superb system is also being a target of severe budget cuts, the highest in the history of the state. This drama is unfolding in all states. This year will see a twenty percent hike in tuition fee on top of last year’s twenty six percent. Many will now find they cannot afford to go to college. Our country which faces a bleak future with a lot of uneducated students is the ultimate loser.

It was from the seventies that our country’s eminence in higher education started declining. Today we find that we are far behind many other countries around the world in graduation rates, college attendance and student performance.

There is no denying the fact that we face severe budget shortfalls. Funding as well as reforms is essential for schools to survive. However, where is the sense in pouring money into a system that is debilitated? More accountability must be brought and budget should not be slashed in a blind manner as this will only worsen the situation. Education may be expensive but ignorance is worse says former president of Harvard, Derek Bok.

We take a lot of effort in building nations like Afghanistan but fail to look in our own bin. Today we are in a situation where we can afford a host of other things such as givebacks amounting to billions of dollars to oil and gas companies, helping billionaires benefit from tax loopholes such as carried-interest and doubling our military budget after 9/11 but cannot afford to invest in the future of our children and of our country. It is time to take a serious look, initiate a complete overhaul and ensure a secure future for our country.